Where were you on September 11, 2001?
I was in year four, only 9 years old.
I remember waking up on September 12, my mum was crying - bawling her eyes out - desperately trying to contact a friend she had who had moved to New York a few month's prior.
I don't think she was able to get through, because she was so distressed. I remember eating my Weet-Bix, watching the news, not understanding what was going on. I remember asking my mum what was happening, and she yelled at me to be quiet, desperate for any information the news could give her.
I remember being at school and talking about what we'd all missed as we slept peacefully in our beds, that terrorists had attacked New York. Terrorists. A word that was no doubt, not in my vernacular at that age.
New York was such a distant and far-away land, and I'm pretty sure that my friends and I lacked any comprehension of the gravity of the situation. I'm pretty sure we were quite unable to envisage how that morning would affect our lives, however indirectly.
It wasn't until the news stories followed, of mourning and despair, that I realised how many lives were lost that day.
I can't believe it's already been 10 years.
9/11 is often discussed with anguish and grief, and still - a lack of comprehension. Just how could this happen?
It has been 10 years of sadness and mourning for everyone who lost work colleagues, brothers, sisters, parents, friends that day.
I did not realise that day, as a somewhat naive 9 year old, that this event would shape the modern world as I now know it - that this event would help frame my initial perspective of international politics. That this topic would be of increasing interest to me as I grew older.
I cannot fathom that today, there are children walking around who were not alive to witness those first news reports. Who have no memories of that morning. Yet this event has still had such an incredible impact on their lives.
This Sunday will no doubt be incredibly painful for all those directly - and indirectly - affected by 9/11.
I will have those who lost loved ones in my thoughts.
I'm just praying that our media won't sensationalise this, or use it to capitalise on ratings and profits.
Please, treat the memories of those who died with dignity and respect.
